bowls. The tiny rodents ranged from hairless to horribly scarred.
“What is this place?”
Sully grunted but didn’t reply.
His staff held no such qualms about talking to me, though. He didn’t question why I was there, where my clothes were, or how I came to be in Sully’s control, and was proud to show off his charges. “This is Serigala. It’s wolf in my language.” He beamed, waiting for Sully to pass him by to slip beside me. “Mr. Sinclair called it wolf because we have teeth to protect the weak and a pack to heal the sick.”
I gawked as we entered a modern-day structure. Thatched roof and sweeping beams but the inside spoke of technology and competence. Embarrassment filled me to be in such a place dressed only in a shirt and tie. My bare legs were visible. The silver-grey of Sully’s shirt barely hid my decency.
“Where do the creatures come from?” I asked quietly, awed and slightly frightened by the magnitude of empathy, the size of the heart required to build such a place.
Sully cleared his throat. “No need to answer all her questions, Andika.”
“Oh, I’m happy to inform her, sir.” His chest rose with pride. “All these animals have been liberated from labs around the world.”
“Labs?”
“Yes, you know. They were binatang coba…eh, guinea pigs.” He grinned. “We also have guinea pigs. We have otters and cats and fish and hamsters and pigs and—”
“Enough,” Sully interrupted. He turned and crossed his arms, his gaze navy with secrets.
“But…” I shrugged helplessly, looking around at the sanctuary this man had created. “How can you walk me through here and not give me answers?”
“This is not a school excursion, Jinx.” His face stayed remote and closed off. “You weren’t supposed to be here. This part of my life does not mingle with my main enterprise.”
“Why? Because it shows you have a heart, after all?”
Andika cleared his throat, moving off toward a paddling pool with no barriers or bars.
Inside frolicked three otters, all sleek and swift, rolling and darting through the water. One had no tail, and the other two had patches of waterproof fur missing. It didn’t matter that the tiles of the foyer were covered in water from their antics or that their happy barks pierced the otherwise sedate silence.
They were perfectly at home.
Sully looked to where I stared, flinching as an otter launched itself from the water and zipped quicksilver fast to twine and rub against Sully’s suited leg. The adorable squeaks and insistent affection whittled at Sully’s temper.
With a glower at me, he dropped to his haunches and scooped up the wriggly, besotted creature. All signs of anger and cold-heartedness vanished as the otter squirmed in his arms, rising up to rub his head against Sully’s chin. “You’re looking much better,” he murmured, stroking the sore looking skin on the otter’s spine. “I’m glad we’ve finally created a waterproof cream that’s helping.”
I couldn’t help it.
I fell.
I tumbled.
I wanted.
All control over my own emotions had been stolen by this enigma of a man. Beastly to humans. Saintly to animals. How could I not fall for a man like that? Crave to know a man like that? A man who saw the world in such black and white. Who understood what humans were capable of and turned his back on his own race to defend the creatures at our mercy.
God, how would I ever survive him now I knew this existed?
I stepped closer to Sully and the otter squeaking joyously in his arms. I didn’t know what to say, how to speak, or how to stop the smarting in my soul. I remained quakingly silent as Sully ignored me, kissing the otter as it strained to nudge his chin again, then ever so gently placed it on the ground.
The otter didn’t run off, though; it stayed twined around Sully’s legs as if showing him thanks, speaking in otter tongue with all its gratefulness that Sully had found it, saved it, healed it.
A loud oink sounded from behind a closed door. Sully turned to look just as the door opened and a black and white pig bowled free. A woman with long black hair and wearing a cream coat ran after it, calling in Indonesian. She noticed Sully and slammed to a halt, letting the pig dart to the man every creature seemed to adore. It oinked and nosed the otter out of the way, wanting its own chance to say thanks.
I gasped, studying the pig’s skin. Where healthy colour and flesh should